Moscow reassured its allies Tehran and Damascus on Thursday on the situation in Syria, four days before security chiefs from the US, Russia and Israel meet in Jerusalem to discuss regional security.
During his annual Q&A session on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked if there would be a “grand deal” with the US on Syria.
“What do you mean by ‘a grand deal’? Sounds like some commercial act. No. We don’t sell out our allies, our interests or our principles,” the Russian President said.
He said Russia is willing to negotiate a political transition in Syria with various stakeholders, adding that such thing could be done, provided there is goodwill from everyone involved in the conflict.
“We have to work together on it,” Putin stressed.
He said that Turkey and Iran are Russia’s immediate partners in resolving the Syrian crisis, but added countries like the US, Israel, Egypt, and Jordan have legitimate interests in what happens in Syria as do the European nations, which were hurt by mass migration triggered by it.
Both the Kremlin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed this week the importance of the upcoming meeting in Jerusalem, where officials would discuss Iran’s efforts to entrench itself militarily in Syria, the recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf, and the nuclear deal with Tehran.
Meanwhile, Putin dispatched on Thursday the Kremlin’s Syria envoy Alexander Lavrentiev to Damascus, where he met with head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad.
The official state news agency SANA reported that the two officials discussed developments in Syria, including efforts to eradicate “terrorism,” using the regime’s term for opposition fighters and militants.
The Russian envoy affirmed his country’s continuous support to the Syrian state’s efforts to restore safety and stability over all its territories.
Meanwhile, regime bombardment killed 14 civilians including two rescue workers in an ambulance and seven children in embattled northwest Syria on Thursday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
